I’m looking to make my cross/gravel bike into a poor weather backup road bike for longer (60+ mile) rides with a tire change. I’m running 40mm knobby gravelkings tubeless on dt swiss 1400s atm, and it’s just a little sluggish/bouncy on the asphalt.
I was thinking gp5000tl in 32, just to handle all roads. But they are significant $$ and I’ve read some reviews online suggesting that sidewall durability might be questionable which makes me nervous. (not only will I still be riding these on some gravel, I live on a dirt road, so every ride is at least a bit of gravel)
I’m really new to the tubeless game, anyone have a 30-36mm TL slick recommendation, or is the 5000tl just the way to go?
Disclaimer: This is the first of (no doubt) many ‘tyres I’ve ridden that I’ll recommend with no real data’ posts.
With that said, I tried some WTB Byway 40’s the other day on a mixed ride and was mega impressed. They’re pretty capable off road, a lot grippier than I’d expected on almost all surfaces apart from deep sand. On road however was where I was most impressed. Either I was on an exceptional day or these tyres are super fast rolling (which isn’t beyond the realms of possibility, being essentially a supple slick tyre with some side knobs). I’d recommend them, or possibly the model without the side knobs if you’re not doing much gravel/mud. I was comparing them back to back with Pro Ones in 32mm, and they didn’t feel noticeably slower tbh. I was set up tubeless at about 40 psi.
Check out the link belowfrom Tom Anhalt who does a lot of rolling resistance tests on tires.
A couple things to point out. The GP 5000 is really fast. Only a few tires out there have as good or better rolling resistance than it. The one on the chart is a 23mm, however there is a comparison of all the widths of GP 5000 at different pressures (also linked below) and when run at ideal pressures for their width, rolling resistance between widths is similar.
As for other wide tires that are slick, multiple different Compass Rene Herse tires are fast as well as Challenge Strada Bianchi. But you might be able to find the GP 5000 cheaper than either of those. There are also some tires with a bit more grip on there (Gravel King SK) that are not too knobby and roll well
appreciate the feedback, and the links. I found a pretty decent sale on the 5000s for $50 a pop, so I might pull the trigger on those. Just as a note, I wouldn’t be riding these on gravel, just wet/nasty/chippy roads. I love my gravelkings for any kind of real gravel riding, and would just swap tires before any of those rides (though now that I say that, swapping tl tires sounds awful. )
You’ve gotta buy bike tires on sale. Period end of story.
I’ve run/running Schwalbe G-One Speed 30c and Vittoria Corsa Control - both of these roll really well and have some ability to shed junk from the road when wet. I (and Strava) can’t really tell the difference between them and my GP5K 25/28c combo. The Corsa Control probably have more cornering grip and the G-One’s probably have more ability to take a poke.
I’m running 5000 TL on the quick/better weather bikes and pirelli cinturato velo on the winter bike. At a glance they are more expensive than the 5000s.
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